


Equestria Was Merely a Setback

by Thunderscourge



Category: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, World of Warcraft
Genre: Azeroth, Comedy, Crossover, Crossover Pairings, F/M, Magic, Multiple Crossovers, Orphans, Romantic Comedy, Temporary Amnesia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-28
Updated: 2016-11-28
Packaged: 2018-03-26 05:44:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 18,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3839245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thunderscourge/pseuds/Thunderscourge
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Trixie, stranded from Equestria and in a mysterious land named Azeroth, tries her best to get by day by day...though it'd be easier if there weren't so many Crack Elves, zombies, and pesky gnomes getting in her way! Perhaps now though, with the aid of a few party members, she can get the glory and renown she has long sought out?</p><p>Also, in true Warcraft fashion, there are going to be many references to other series and characters! Tags will be updated with these random lost souls as they come about!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Okay, You Want Me To Do What?

It was not the first time Trixie woke up flat on the ground, limbs sprawled and her head in splitting pain. The pain was so great, in fact, that it took her a whole minute to even manage to open her eyes. As soon as the bright light of the sun hit them, she groaned and shut them again. She felt completely unwell on a level she had not felt since…

Since…

Trixie shook her head from side to side while trying to lift herself to her feet. As her eyes opened again, her efforts to rise were met by her flopping over onto the ground beside where she woke up. Her body felt…different. Lighter, and her weight was distributed differently.

She brought the end of one limb to touch her forehead, as if by massaging her throbbing temple she could ease the pain. Still suffering, a weak groan escaped her lips, "Ohhhh…"

As she made that simple utterance, the feeling against her forehead changed...it was being touched, but something about what was touching it felt wrong. Trixie focused her light sensitive eyes on whatever was touching her head.

It was colored funnily. Like someone had drained a peachy color and made it quite pale. The shape was quite funny too, with a few skinny blocks coming off of a square-ish shaped part.

Trixie moved her head away from it, only to find that this thing flopped onto her smooth forehead again.

"What is this?"

That was enough for Trixie to try and look at it more thoroughly…and all it took was a look as to what the thing was attached to for her mind to figure out what was touching her.

Attached to the thing was what Trixie could recall was called an arm, which was connected to what was known as a shoulder, which in turn was attached to her. She had a hand. Somehow that felt wrong. Why would having a hand feel so weird?

A glance to her other side revealed a matching hand. So she had two of them, and the one that had been touching her head was not some abnormality. Still, it felt…funny.

"Hands? I don't remember having those…"

The pain still lingering in Trixie's head gave her ample explanation as to why maybe she was feeling a bit off. Now that she was awake, it was time to find out where she had slept for the night and determine what to do from there.

A look at the ground she was on top of revealed a soft green field of grass. Various patches of grass were unkempt and rising above others, one of which was nearby where she had woken up. Curious, Trixie ran a hand through the grass there to find that a rock was inside the grass.

Trixie groaned. She hit her head on that rock, hadn't she?

Reaching one of her hands back, Trixie found that the back of her head indeed had a bruise. A bruise so large, in fact, that she gasped at the touch of her own soft fingers. A strand of hair caught in her fingers as she brought them across her scalp and away from the pain, granting Trixie sight of the silver sliver before it drifted away in the day's gentle breeze.

The ground would reveal little else to her, so it was time to get up! Trixie heaved upward and tried to bring herself onto all four limbs. She instead flopped forward and had to catch herself with her hands, ending up in a position kneeling down on the ground. That granted her a better enough view though, now being able to see that she was next to a round building with a symbol that had the appearance of a stylized fleur-de-lis with red as its primary color, and a golden outline surrounding it. Around the building was an assortment of trees, some green and some a golden orange. Those that were green came from intricate, swirled bases that were a part of the building while the others rose from the ground.

The building itself was a similar shade to Trixie's skin, and it held an architecture than only felt partly familiar…like she had seen something like it before, but not actually seen anything exactly like it in her life.

The unfamiliarity brought some uneasiness to Trixie's stomach, "Where in Tartarus am I? And just how hard did I hit my head?" she brought her hand over to her stomach at the queasy feeling, "There better not have been anything in my food last night…"

In fact, what had she eaten last night? Ah, whatever, Trixie was sure she could figure it out as soon as her head cleared a bit.

Trixie lowered her hand from her stomach to one of her lower limbs, finding that it was a leg. That was normal, even if the leg itself felt weird. A quick check revealed her last limb to be the same, and Trixie sighed. Okay, whatever was wrong with her, she at least had all of the parts that would let her get up and move.

While checking herself, Trixie found that her body was covered by a soft purple robe. Wearing purple felt right, so she paid it little mind as she slowly pulled herself to her feet. Just when she reached her feet, Trixie yelped as something crashed into the back of her legs and knocked her forward. Her head plunged into one of the green trees nearby and the young woman flailed as she tried fighting her way out of the tree's leaves.

"Ahhh!"

Once successful in freeing herself, Trixie turned to find herself being approached by what appeared to be a...feline being. It had a coat of reddish-orange, and it had fangs that poked far out of its mouth in a threatening manner. Yellow glowing eyes stared intently at her, and Trixie found herself backing right into that tree she had been fighting to escape. This little cat just tackled her, and it did not look friendly!

Trixie glanced around to see if there was anyone around. After all, she was right next to a building! People had to be around—

More cats. Dozens of more cats. Some trees as well, yes, but the field seemed filled with these felines.

Trixie gave the cat a nice smile and held a hand out to try and touch it. It was worth a shot, right?

"Good kitty...soft kitty...little ball of fur..." Trixie weakly sang as she slowly approached it. It growled at her and snapped towards her outstretched hand, which made Trixie realize something: she could do magic! All she had to do was...

Oh great, now she could not even remember how to do magic! What was the world coming to?

A growl reminded her that the world was coming to her being mauled by a cat. Yes, that.

The cat sniffed towards her and let out another growl before turning around and leaving, walking towards the others gathered on the plains. At that moment the war cry of a man rung out, and someone in full armor rushed and impaled one of the farther cats with their sword. The others did not appear all that pleased by this and turned to assault the armored man, but Trixie was already running along the edge of the building away from the whole mess the moment he appeared. It would be nice and noble to help him murder the cats for no reason, since their numbers were sure to kill him, but Trixie valued her own life more. And did not feel comfortable hurting poor animals for no explained reason.

On the way around the building Trixie came across what appeared to be target dummies, like what you might beat up in training, and surely enough there was a line of robed figures hurling magic towards these dummies. Trixie watched in awe for a moment as fire and ice hurled forward and crashed into the straw figures, but a stray shot of a poor magic user flew right by her head. At that point Trixie decided watching from behind the targets was not the smartest decision of her life. The concentrating mages did not seem to even notice the person in their line of fire, and they continued to attack their targets despite everything.

With the warrior attacking the poor cats, and these mages attacking their targets, Trixie could not help but feel as if this was some training ground for soldiers. She did not recognize just what these beings were, but she did not give them a second glance before continuing on her way. She wanted to figure out what this all was as soon as possible, idiot mages be damned.

After continuing around the circle that was the building for a few more moments, Trixie was met with a wide open hole where one would think a door should be. The entrance was simply the lack of a door, and Trixie found herself a little stunned by this very open building. How did they keep the weather from getting in?

Standing in front of the entrance of the building and looking like they could answer some questions was another woman who was pointing some other robed figures towards a different field. Someone with directions most certainly could be helpful!

Trixie approached the woman, but before addressing her she observed her for a moment. The woman had a soft face with green, literally glowing eyes, long, pointed ears that sloped up and slightly towards the back of the head, and blonde hair tied back in a ponytail. Her body was bipedal, much like Trixie found herself, and formed a surprising hourglass shape with a narrow waist, large hips, and two large bumps on the chest that were almost as big as the chest they hung off of in length. What were those things, Trixie wondered? A glance down made her realize that she too possessed them.

Having looked the woman over, Trixie cleared her throat to get her attention, "Hello, my name is…"

Oh no. Trixie's eyes widened as the woman turned towards her...she was blanking on her own name! She bit her lip for a moment and groaned as she fought to remember who she was. The woman Trixie stood across from rose an eyebrow, curious about the sudden stop, but she was not kept waiting long as a wave of information hit Trixie: she was, indeed, named Trixie. Trixie Lulamoon, the Great and Powerful!

The Great and Powerful what though? She remembered doing magic before, so was it magician? Whatever, she would just leave that out until she could remember more.

"Trixie! Trixie Lulamoon," she finished awkwardly.

The woman smiled, ignoring Trixie's awkwardness as if it were something she was used to, "Oh, you must be another student who has come here to prepare against the Burning Legion. Welcome to Sunstrider Isle, Ms. Lulamoon. I am Magistrix Erona, your guide for the near future."

Absolutely none of that registered with Trixie, who gave the other woman a weird look.

"Burning Legion? Sunstrider Isle?"

What was this 'Magistrix" even saying? What were those things and why was Trixie supposed to know what those meant?

"Yes..." the Magistrix nodded slowly, her voice trailing off as she grimaced. The poor woman was wondering what brain damage this poor soul was ailed with to not know what those words meant to their people.

Realizing that she was seeming a bit unintelligent, Trixie chuckled nervously. She hated not knowing what she was doing, "Okay, so, hypothetically, would it be possible for you to talk to me like I have no idea what is going on, what I am doing, or where I am? Just, you know, to be sure we are clear on those details?"

Her hypothetical that was completely the case made Erona facepalm. She had encountered many...mentally challenged trainees before, but never quite to this degree. Even that idiot warrior who had rushed off to slay the cubs by the back of the building knew those basics. Magistrix Erona knew already this was going to be difficult.

"Silvermoon kids these days and their Bloodthistle and drinking…"

Trixie could hear with her large ears that the woman had muttered something, but she had not caught just what was said, "What?"

Erona gave Trixie a fake smile,"Nothing! Let us begin with the basics. What do you know?"

Trixie nodded, glad that she could finally address her problems, "I have hands, and that feels abnormal. You have them too, so an explanation would be nice " a similar and more important question surfaced for Trixie, "Also, what are you?"

The urge to have her jaw drop was killing Erona inside. Was this student just playing with her or were they just that unintelligent? Perhaps they were just suffering from a bit too much partying in the city?

"I am a Blood Elf, much like yourself. We are a race known for its magical prowess and our refined ways. To think that your hangover is so great that you cannot remember that tells me that perhaps we should limit the drinking of ones as young as yourself."

Trixie crossed her arms over her chest defensively, "I didn't drink anything!" a moment passed before Trixie realized she had no idea if she had or not, "Or, at least I don't think so. I might have. But what I do in the privacy of my wagon is my own business!"

That caught Erona's attention, "Wagon? So you are a traveler?"

"I…" Trixie slowly grew a smirk as she continued, "Yes. Yes I am."

Yes, she was a traveler! A traveling magician, the Great and Powerful Trixie! She would go from place to place and perform magic. Sure, she could not remember her spells at that moment, but she would with time. Of that she was sure. This temporary setback with her memory would go away and things would go back to normal...whatever that was.

Trixie bowed to the Magistrix, adopting a grandiose voice, "A traveling magician, in fact. And I have come here to improve my skills so I can become the greatest performer in Equestria!"

Erona rose her brow again, now being the one feeling slightly foolish, "Equestria? Is that some realm of Kalimdor? These are the Eastern Kingdoms, there is no Equestria here."

Not able to know if that was indeed the case but also not willing to appear like any more of a fool, Trixie nodded and stood back up with a smile to mask her inner nervousness, "Yes, that is it. Completely! Trixie knows what she is talking about now."

That seemed to put Erona partially at ease, "Oh good then. Perhaps we can discuss more details later then. For now, I would like to have your aid in a most pressing matter."

To make herself appear at least competent and make up for previous...bumbling, Trixie gestured to herself while boasting proudly, "I will amaze you with my talents. What shall I do? Pull a rabbit out of a hat? Summon a bouquet of flowers?"

Internally, Trixie was saying something along the lines of "Pleasedon'tcallmybluffpleasedon'tcallmybluffpleasedon'tcallmybluff!" as a result of how she could not currently back up her claims. Luckily for her, Erona could not read minds and paid it all no mind. The Magistrix smiled to Trixie in a way that made the confused "Blood Elf" nervous.

"I am more interested in your capability of murder, my young student. The sooner you begin your magic education, Trixie, the better for us all. There is little room for error, so listen closely."

Now it was Trixie's turn to fight the urge of dropping one's jaw, "M-murder? Like people murder?"

Just the idea made Trixie's stomach feel ill. Here they were, having this nice conversation, and now death was on the table! The nonchalant manner made Trixie wonder just how common a subject this was for the woman, since she did not seem nearly as put off by it as anyone should!

Seeing that Trixie was alarmed, Erona backpedaled verbally, "No, no, no. Let me explain. The Burning Crystals - the green floating objects to the west of the Sunspire here - have long been used to power the isle's experimentations."

Trixie glanced around the landscape and found that in the nearby distance there were the so called Burning Crystals. Floating above the ground and surrounded by what Trixie presumed to be floating eels, the crystals were above circular platforms that had a similar architecture to the nearby building, which she then realized was not the only one of its kind. Multiple buildings surrounded the nearby area, which made Trixie curious as to what they all were for. Inspection of them could happen later though, for now she was observing the crystals.

The largest one in view, shaped like an elongated diamond, was quite large even at a few hundred feet away. Inside of it were two glowing shapes of orange and yellow that held the shape of eyes, and Trixie found herself slightly unnerved by how it seemed to be staring back at her.

Her observation complete, Erona continued for her new student of sorts, "The mana wyrms you see around them were their guardians, but the Scourge invasion of Quel'Thalas has driven them errant from our lack of magical control over them."

Trixie glanced back at the floating eels, some of which were closer and gave a better view. They had a blue-ish body with a thin, weblike membrane around forming straight back across their long and slim bodies on both top and bottom. They too had glowing eyes, and the way they waved back and forth as they hovered above the ground had a mesmerizing effect on Trixie, who found herself smiling at them.

This said, Trixie once again found herself confused by the jargon used.

"What is this Scourge you speak of?"

This time Erona seemed more than a little miffed at Trixie's questioning, "The race of undead monstrosities that drove us from our homeland and demolished our species. I am a magic teacher, not a history professor, so just listen. There is little choice but to thin the mana wyrms numbers for reclamation of this Isle. This is a great way to test out your magical powers and let me gauge where you are at in terms of skill level. Do this, then return to me."

Trixie gulped. So this was the murder mentioned previously. She was supposed to just go and kill creatures as a task?

"Are there no beast tamers who could help these poor creatures? I don't think I've ever killed something, and I would hate to break a good streak now!" Trixie laughed nervously, trying to find an alternate option to killing.

Erona shook her head sadly, "No. I mean, we receive a flux of warriors, criminals for hire, magicians, and other such talented people here, but if I am to be honest we do not receive too many huntards with the skill to tame such creatures. Not nearly enough to make a true impact..."

Trixie tilted her head at the odd word she heard, "Huntards?"

Erona chuckled as she realized she used the wrong word, "Excuse me, Hunters. Ranged specialists who tame creatures. Their profession is less popular amongst our race these days because of the cowardice associated with their tactics."

"So, to begin my training, you want me to murder animals that are tainted by something we can possibly help with but just do not have the manpower for?" Erona nodded to Trixie's question, which led to the new student proclaiming, "I'm going to capture them."

The Magistrix could tell this would be a difficult apprentice already, "That would prove most difficult, and what would you do with them? All of our animal holding pens are full with Dragonhawks."

Trixie placed her hands on her hips smarmily, tilting her head back and lifting her nose up as she brought forth yet another boast, this one being one she intended to fulfill however she could, "You want to help their species by thinning the amount of corrupted ones there are. I'll do just that. Let the Great and Powerful Trixie amaze you!"

"I can sense your overall magic, though not your skill. This being said, you are barely above average in terms of new recruits and their power. Why do you think you are so amazing?" Erona scoffed, hoping to bring some humility to the younger woman.

Ready to begin her task, Trixie strutted past Erona and towards the nearby plains where a gathering of mana wyrms was, "Pardon me, teacher, but you will not be a neigh-sayer much longer. Just watch as I do the impossible."

Their conversation over, Trixie set out to reclaim Sunstrider Isle in her own way. This being said, she quickly looked around to see if anyone else was using magic. A nearby feline cub growled in pain, bringing Trixie's attention to what caused the pain. A man in similar robes to Trixie's own, though his had a crimson shade with gold outlines like the building from before, was forming a ball of what appeared to be ice and fire magic in his hand before blasting it out towards the wild animal. This next shot did not hit the cub like the last, but it did give Trixie the time to study him. He began saying an incantation along the lines of "Anara'nel belore", and suddenly a burst of fire erupted before the cub. The grass lit and singed the charging animal, at which point the man formed another ball of ice and fire in his hands while chanting, "Dune'adah!"

The cub fell down, and Trixie cast her eyes away. She knew what she had to do in order to have her magic now though. To herself, Trixie whispered exactly what he said while focusing some of her energy into her palm.

"Dune'adah!" her fierce whisper went. A flicker of flame and a tinge of frost formed in her hand, making Trixie grin. By channeling more of her energy, she could cast an attack like that blonde man in the red robes, but for now she would only use that as a last resort.

Trixie approached the closest wrym and attempted to see if they were nicer than the dreadful cubs nearby, "Here wyrmy-wyrmy."

One of the nearby wyrms could seemingly tell that she was speaking to it, which Trixie realized likely stemmed from its previous affiliation with Elves like her. A perfect test subject for her to try and tame! Trixie regretted not having any treats or the like, but she was sure she could think of something. Trixie smiled as it wavered back and forth, slowly hovering over to her with its smooth yet scaly body.

It stopped about a foot in front of her, at which point Trixie brought a hand out to touch it. She felt like she had always wanted a pet, and could not remember actually ever getting one. The wyrm accepted her touch, not making any threatening movement as she began to stroke it. Trixie could not understand just why these seemingly docile creatures had to die, but she did find herself smiling as it moved to rub against her hand more with its body, "That's a good wrym. Would you like to join me and be my pet?"

The animal's ability to respond was already at a low level before an arrow crashed through its upper body, right behind its glowing blue eyes. It wavered back and forth as Trixie gasped and jumped back, with a second arrow crashing right into the small fin on one side, through the body, and skewering the other fin as well. The wyrm's floating ceased and it twirled in the air before exploding in a brief flash. Trixie cast her eyes away for the duration of the flash, only to return her gaze to it and find that there was but a glowing orb remaining of the wyrm.

Trixie turned around to see a green armored woman with auburn hair looking cooly at her, the woman's green eyes matching her outfit and not displaying any emotion as she placed another arrow on her bow. Behind her, a frightened mana wyrm hovered around, a chain around its neck that led to a belt on the woman.

Angry that her new friend was dead now because of this reckless person, Trixie shook a fist at them and let them know her feelings on the matter, "What the heck do you think you are doing?!"

The woman shrugged, slowly lifting her bow and aiming at another wyrm about ten feet from Trixie, "Putting down the animals like I was tasked with doing."

Seeing what was about to happen, Trixie jumped in front of the other creature. This stupid person was ruining her great plan! Not only that, they were being a total jerk about it too! "Oh no you don't. I'm not going to just kill these adorable creatures because you're bloodthirsty!"

The other woman appeared only slightly irritated by Trixie getting in the way, still aiming at the creature peacefully floating behind Trixie's shoulder, "I am a Hunter. I kill animals as I see fit, and use them similarly however I wish. Apparently you do not get how this works."

Seeing the Hunter pull their bow string back, Trixie gulped as she realized this game of chicken might not go in her favor, "Apparently not, but that does not mean the Great and Powerful Trixie is just going to permit mass slaughter!"

Narrowing their eyes momentarily, the woman glared at Trixie as their bowstring remained ready to fire. After remaining like that for ten dreadful seconds, they lowered it and sighed.

"So be it."

Trixie opened her mouth to thank them for their understanding, only for the shoulder part of her purple robe to be clipped by an arrow that was shot at a pace so fast Trixie knew that the woman had to be crazy. Who just shot like that when people were standing right by!?

Trixie turned around to see the poor wyrm behind her fall and die similar to the first, bringing a tear to her eye as she realized she had failed two of these poor creatures.

"You just shot at me!" Trixie shrieked at the other woman, the feeling of wet blood now trickling down her skin inside the robe making her all the more angry. What happens if that shot had been a little to the side? It could have killed her!

Once again, the hunter shrugged, though this time it was with a slight smirk, "You were in the way."

Trixie decided then that she was not very fond of these Huntards either. And since she now knew how to use her magic again, or at least a single spell of it, why not give it some field practice?

As the Hunter began to leave, Trixie brought a hand to her shoulder, arcing it over her back so that it looked like she was covering her now exposed shoulder and clutching the spot where she was bleeding. In reality, she was beginning to channel her energy into her palm to let off a blast of fire and ice like that other mage had, but only someone standing behind her could see it. She whispered the incantation and held the attack there.

Not wanting them to go just yet, Trixie decided to announce her new brilliant plan, "Hey, Huntard! Know what? Let's handle this disagreement about methods and ethics the good old fashioned way. Up for a duel, Huntard?"

The so called Huntard turned to face Trixie, the shackled wyrm shivering as its seeming owner coolly responded, "I have more experience than you. I would kill you without breaking a sweat."

Trixie scoffed, fully confident in how striking someone with magic would cause them to give up in an instant, "We'll see about that! Are you too afraid?"

The stoic Hunter nodded, "Very well. We begin in three...two...one..."

As they counted they had begun to draw their bowstring back with another arrow, aiming right at Trixie. Trixie had gathered up all of her strength for this one attack, and intended to knock this arrogant woman out so she could do no more harm. The moment things began, Trixie whipped her sneak attack at her foe and the ice-fire attack sailed through the air right to its intended target. Luckily they had been standing still, so Trixie did not have trouble aiming it in a straight line at her foe.

The Hunter fired off a quick shot that actually caught Trixie in the arm in a stunning display of accuracy, before quickly yanking the chain on their belt and pulling the mana wyrm they had shackled to shield them from Trixie's attack. Trixie gasped both in pain and surprise as all of her energy just was wasted on one of the beings she was trying to help. It did not die, but it fell weakly onto the ground as its owner prepared another arrow to fire.

Trixie tried moving, but felt sluggish after being hit by the first arrow and so the second one nicked her leg. Trixie could feel some more energy welling inside of her, and began to summon forth another attack before the hunter closed their gap somewhat and pointed the arrow right at Trixie's head. Realizing she had been bested, Trixie bowed her head and raised her hands up in surrender to her enemy who was now only five feet away.

It took all of her pride to admit it, but Trixie knew she was not good enough to succeed in this encounter, "You win."

That did not appear good enough for the Hunter, who drew their string back and prepared to fire again.

"Dead in the first area of one's journey. How pathetic," the Hunter snorted. Trixie realized quickly that her foe was taking this as a duel to the death, not just a competitive and sporting one, and quickly opened her mouth to try and stop herself from being killed over such a trivial matter.

Before either could do as they intended, a red blur moved in-between them. Trixie found herself staring at the back of the red robed man from before, who now stood right in front of the Hunter and was now acting as a shield for Trixie.

The man held a smile in his voice as he intervened, "Hold it there, friend. What happens to be the problem here?"

"We had a duel. She lost. So you get lost unless you care to have a new hole," the Hunter growled.

The magic using man gestured back to Trixie, who snorted at his gesture, "There is no need to finish her then. You have proven whatever point you were trying to make."

Trixie used this time to gather herself and to look at her bleeding arm, where the arrow had caught her and broken through. She hid a groan of pain, not wanting to appear even weaker than she was.

The Hunter looked around the red robed mage to see Trixie, at which point she huffed, "If I was not so repulsed by this man's face I would stay to finish you."

That being said, the Hunter turned her back again and made to leave, dragging the unconscious wyrm along with her. The threat gone, the man turned around to face Trixie. Before he could say anything though, Trixie decided to see who she needed to thank for her life.

Trixie crouched down as she winced in pain, "Who are you? I owe you one..."

The fellow magic user offered her a hand, a warm smile on his face as he introduced himself, "My name is Kael'Thas, a fellow student and mage, and it was no problem at all. Welcome to Sunstrider Isle, my lady."

Trixie might be confused, she might be bleeding, and she might be pissed off about how her first ten minutes in this new place had gone...but seeing a friendly smile made her feel at least a little better about it all.

If there was a next time though, she was not going to lose to that stupid Huntard. Lesson learned.


	2. Level 2: Go Fetch

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Trixie groaned as her body began to ache in a way she was not familiar with. A burning sensation all over. Was she exhausted in addition to wounded? Still, with some difficulty she managed to hide it and observe the man before her.

Red robes with golden outlines...a look at his own clothes made Trixie realize that her own looked so much better. His were in tatters when observed up close, and they barely looked like they could hold together another day of actual use.

In comparison to his shoddy clothes, his face was much easier on the eyes. His eyes were similar to the Magistrix’s in that they blazed a bright green, as if magic was pouring right from them. His face was pointed and skinny, but not in a bad way, as it gave him a very refined appearance that Trixie could appreciate. Even his eyebrows were amusing, being so long that they left his face entirely.

Plain and simple, Trixie could not see what the Huntard was talking about in relation to his face being unappealing. Perhaps they simply did not like men?

The handsome Elf before Trixie held a hand out towards her as he introduced himself, “My name is Kael’Thas, a fellow student and mage. Welcome to Sunstrider Isle, my lady. I apologize if some of our population is…” as Trixie moved to take his hand to stand up, he turned towards the direction the Huntard went and frowned at the now faraway figure of the cruel woman, “Well, whatever one would call that. Grouchy. Mean spirited. An as—”

His turning and the shifted attention caused him not to politely help her up as he originally meant to, so Trixie cleared her throat to draw his attention back to her, “Ahem.”

“Oh, my apologies,” Kael turned back to her and granted her his hand again, “Here, let me help you.”

Annoyed at this point, Trixie decided to stand up on her own, “I don’t need your help…”

As she stood, Trixie growled in pain as her leg wound flared up in pain. Yes, that. She had forgotten about that in favor of the arrow sticking in her. She fell backwards onto her bum as she tried getting up from her kneeling position, causing the man to crack a smile.

“Apparently you do,” this time when he offered his hand, Trixie begrudgingly took it. Once upright, Kael reached behind him and removed a vial of some red liquid from a backpack he had, “Now, here, hold this.”

Trixie took the vial with some confusion. It looked like blood. She rose an eyebrow at the sight of it, “What is this for? Is this some kind of…drink?”

Kael reached for the arrow stuck in Trixie and grasped it firmly, “You could say that. Now, when I say drink, drink it.”

Not happy about where this was going, Trixie tried pulling back from him only for the Elf to grab her arm as well and hold her still, “Wait, what are you—”

He ripped the arrow out of her in one quick movement, saying at the same exact moment, “Drink!”

“Oww! Damnit, you just—”

Kael glaring at her made Trixie realize she did not do as he said, so she moved to change that.

Trixie lifted the vial to her mouth only to find that it had a cork in the top. She removed it quickly with her thumb, at which point she guzzled the liquid down as fast as she could. This could be poison for all she knew, but the fact that he saved her life made her comfortable in drinking whatever he gave her. Pain wracked her arm as the arrow was removed, and she could feel blood begin to run down her robe’s sleeve…

“I said drink,” he commented as he rolled Trixie’s sleeve up without her permission. Trixie was about to comment on what he was doing until she felt the blood stop running down her arm. When he finished rolling up the sleeve, Trixie gasped at the sight: no wound whatsoever remained. The pain was still there, but no arrow hole.

Kael smirked at his accomplishment, “There, is that better?”

“No…” Trixie pouted at first about the pain, only to realize then that she was being ungrateful, “Okay, yes. Thank you. But it hurts…”

Kael let go of her and bowed slightly, “I apologize, but I do not possess healing magic and I assume you do not either, so this is our only alternative if you do not want to spend a week in the infirmary.”

Trixie could see what he meant, since she knew basically nothing at this point and would have to learn more, “Point taken…”

It was then that Kael realized that he still did not know the name of this new acquaintance, so he prodded her for that information gently, “So, ahem, what’s your name, milady? I do not remember seeing you around here.”

Trixie decided to act as grandiose as she could, bringing a hand to her chest and speaking in a haughty voice, “I am the great and powerful Trixie Lulamoon, and I…”

She paused as she remembered something.

“I have no idea how I got here,” she finished in a more confused tone.

Her response was first met with a smirk, and then after a moment that smirk transformed into a full grin. Then Kael tilted his head back and began to laugh at her, causing Trixie to grunt as he tried to reign in his burst of amusement.

Once calm, Kael cleared his throat and continued on as if he had not just been laughing so heartily, “Oh do not worry. I would reckon that many who come here do not know much of went on before their arrival here. This is where journeys begin, not continue.”

Trixie glared at him. Something felt off about this guy…

“You have amnesia too, don’t you,” Trixie flatly responded on a hunch.

Caught, Kael brought a hand to the back of his head nervously, “Yes, that would be the case…Beyond my name and some things here and there, I don’t really have a clue what is going on either.”

That interested Trixie. Perhaps with a similarly…confused person, she could seek out answers as to what was going on. First she had to finish what she was doing though, which made her question what this strange fellow was doing too, “So you are just lounging here and saving damsels in distress, or do you have some goal?”

Her question seemed to sap some of the warmness out of him, and Kael looked down to the side as he thought back to his own time in the Isle, “I tried getting some work, but people keep shying away from me. From what they say I guess I must look like someone infamous.”

That would explain the Huntard’s comment, Trixie thought, which made her feel kind of sorry for him. Somehow the idea of being an outcast resonated with her. Perhaps she had experience with it that she simply did not recall?

As Trixie began to pity him, the man put on a fake smile and returned the question, “And what about you? Do you have any goals in particular?”

Trixie tried to act as if she was smart and knew what was going on again, “Well, besides growing my magical skill and reaching whatever potential I have there, I don’t know…”

An idea struck her. He was an amnesiac outcast, and she was an amnesiac foreigner. Perhaps they could lend one another a hand, at least until they had things more settled and their memories restored?

“Perhaps we can help eachother. Since neither of us have a goal or idea, how about we see where things take us?”

Kael brought his hand to his chin as he thought about the possibility. He would hate to impose on someone else because of his current unfriendly relations with others around the Isle, but now that someone was willing to talk to him he would hate to pass up the opportunity, “I could be amenable to that,” he felt the need to warn his new companion though about the dark cloud that would follow him, “Though, if you plan to work with those around here, my presence may prove…scandalous.”

Trixie crossed her arms over her chest and snootily lifted her nose, trying to act tough when in fact she was still a bit scared about how close she had come to dying, “You saved my life. If they have an objection to you tagging along and helping me, then they can deal with not having my assistance and skills.”

Kael bowed to her, grateful that for once someone was not judging him for things he was unaware of, “You are most kind, Lady Trixie.”

Surprised by the flattery, Trixie did her best not to blush as she changed the topic, “So, you do magic too? I was watching you before.”

“Yes, though I have yet to branch out from the basics, but I do have a general understanding of at least those currently.”

Trixie turned around to face the area she had been approaching prior to the Huntard’s interruption. The area opened up to a nice plains away from the buildings, and despite the occasion tree swaying or giant green floating crystal it seemed quite calm.

As Trixie turned though, she felt a bounce in her chest area. She had kind of felt it while moving before, but the speed at which she turned made it all the more pronounced. The two orbs that swelled from her chest were the culprit, and Trixie found herself genuinely confused by them or what they were. She rose a hand to cup one of them as she pondered this weird feeling of having extraneous weight on her chest, “You know, this doesn’t exactly feel...right…”

Kael struggled to respond as he too took an interest in what she was now talking about. Unlike Trixie however, Kael had a basic understanding of what made for a humanoid woman’s chest, and Trixie was no different than other Elven women in that regard. In fact, a quick observation made Kael all the more confused about why she was unsure about her breasts, since they were of a size that would be hard for most to ignore, “Your robes…fit you nicely? I don’t see what the matter could be…”

Trixie grimaced as she thought about how she apparently was going to have to deal with this hindrance, “I guess they do,” she moved her hands up to the neck of her robe so that she could reach inside, “But what is filling them up. What are these?”

Even with Trixie’s back to him, Kael turned his head away and coughed nervously, “A very unusual question, one with a level of indecency I do not feel comfortable answering.”

Trixie reached her hand inside the robe and ran it over the soft skin located there. Her face went red at the touch, and she quickly realized that she was indeed a mammal. She withdrew the hand quickly and forced it to her side, her whole pale face red as she vowed never to embarrass herself like that again in front of someone else, “I...apologize for my question. I am…out of it.”

Now the one eager to change the subject, Kael approached Trixie’s side and spoke back to their previous conversation, “Anyways, we did not agree on any terms of our partnership. As this is a business related matter, I suggest we come up with some basic rules to form its foundation.”

Still embarrassed, Trixie only nodded to him. Business sounded good. Business didn’t make her tingle…or, at least in the same way.

Kael reached into his bag and removed a pair of dice, “I propose an even split of what we find and gather in our journeys. When something is singular and of great importance, we shall roll an unmodified pair of dice. To help assure their fairness, each of us shall use one of our own. This will account for if any others join us, as a coin flip would be limited to only two while a dice has more outcomes than we likely will have people with us.”

The idea of fairly distributing anything they come across sounded good to Trixie, but there was the chance that someone could be more fortunate than the other, /“And if one starts winning everything through random chance? I would say that we should decide whether or not one participant needs it or not. If they do not need it, they do not roll.”

“And if none shall need it?”

Trixie smirked, glad to think out this basic rule now instead of having to deal with any drama later, “Then both of us rolls, and then things proceed as normal,” with the materialistic aspect of their partnership decided, that left the more important part of leadership, “That concerns what we gain. Now, how shall we decide who leads and when?”

Kael smiled back at her, similarly pleased, “We agree on our goals before we set out, and then take turns deciding the specifics on whatever journey we embark on after our time learning here. Take things day by day.”

“Very well. I think that shall do for now.”

“I foresee a long and beautiful relationship.”

“The rules shall be amended as needed.”

“Of course.”

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The rules quickly came into question when the two came into a situation where neither one of them wanted something.

“Did a boot just fall out of that wyrm?”

A mana wyrm that had been wounded by another young mage had assaulted Trixie and Kael after the other mage ran away like a coward the first time it hissed at them. With a blast of the only spell Trixie knew, named Frostfire she learned from Kael, she managed to keep it from biting her head off in its maddened assault.

When it exploded in a brilliant light and fell to the ground as an orb, a boot also fell out of the light. This left both Trixie and Kael confused, though neither wanted to consider how or why the mana wyrm had a boot inside of it.

“You have it,” Trixie disgustedly responded to Kael, who was beginning to come up with an idea for the unkempt boot.

Kael picked up the disgusting boot to Trixie’s displeasure, and placed it in his bad as well with some of his own disgust, “We may think it is repulsive and junk, but who knows what the merchants around here will think of it? Perhaps we could sell it. I have a bag to carry it, so it will remain there for now.”

Trixie stuck her tongue out at the sight of it, “So gross. Just remember to split the…profit.”

Another mana wyrm, this one not at all aggressive, floated by Trixie’s face which reminded her of what she was supposed to be doing.

She turned to her partner, who seemed to have the same thought on his mind as he said the question before she could, “You are doing the magic training, correct?”

Trixie had seen him fighting a wyrm before her confrontation with the Hunter, which meant that he too was likely doing the Magistrix’s bidding too.

Trixie nodded yes as she thought about how fortunate it was to have a partner when confronting such deadly matters, “Yes, I am. Are you tasked with ridding the Isle with the wyrms as well?”

Kael smiled nervously as if he was hiding something, “It seems to be an entrance exam of sorts.”

“How brutish,” Trixie commented, not pleased that there was a institutionalized practice of killing wild animals. She felt bad about even killing the one that just attacked her in a blind rage, but knew that she did not have a choice with how close it had been to taking a bite out of her.

The mana wyrm floating around her made Trixie sigh, as she realized she had to deal with it in some way…

A lightbulb lit in her head. Even if she could not tame them, she could get around killing them. The Magistrix wanted them gone, and Trixie would do just that.

Trixie whipped out another magic attack to hit this wyrm at point blank range. She made sure to make it even stronger than her last hit, which had only finished off an already half-dead animal.

The wyrm was blasted out of the air and fell to the ground, though not in the orb form they took upon death. It was wounded heavily, and it flopped around briefly before taking flight once again. Instead of confronting Trixie, the nearly dead animal took flight and began to weakly fly away from the area.

Kael was intrigued by her approach, since he definitely remembered Magistrix Erona saying to kill them when he overheard her talking earlier, “Are you not going to finish it off?”

Trixie scoffed at the idea, “Of course not. I am not going to harm something so needlessly. They said to reduce the population of mana wyrms, and so I am, just in a different way. I’ll scare them off for now so they stop being a nuisance, and later I will find a way to cure them. I do not feel comfortable slaying such beautiful beings.”

Seeing her alternate method and goal, Kael sighed as he thought about how to complete it, “This will make things more difficult…”

Similar to when Trixie first watched him, Kael summoned forth a burst of some flames at the ground beneath some mana wyrms. The sudden fire frightened the animals, and they fled a few feet from it. Once moved back this far, Kael shot another series of flames to chase them off and away.

Trixie could see that the rapid use of magic was straining him, so she spoke up with some thought, “I was not going to prevent you from doing as you would. If you were going to kill them, go ahead. You need not handicap yourself.”

That only made him laugh. He was being offered kindness from someone, and that was not something he was going to squander by trampling her ethics, “What kind of partner would I be if I breached my partner’s code of conduct?”

Trixie smiled as Kael continued to set the plains aflame. This really was going to be quite the partnership should it last.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The two continued this until a whole area of the plains was set free from mana wyrms, which continued to float away until they were no longer in sight. They could return, or they could bring problems to some other place, but Trixie was just happy they had rid the area of them with minimal blood shed.

Trixie patted her partner on the shoulder at the sight of the fleeing wyrms, “Thank you for the aid. I think we have scared enough away.”

The touch made Kael relax somewhat, his whole body aching immensely from the relocation effort due to all the magic he used and the toll that in turn took on him, “My fire was more than enough for the job. I am only glad to have been of service to you. You’re the first person who is actually bothering to talk to me much at all.”

Seeing as how Kael had been quite the stand up fellow so far, Trixie found it hard to believe that others were shunning him, “How rude of them,” the idea of proving herself and gaining fame through her actions sounded appealing though in her mind, so Trixie decided it was time to return to her quest giver. After all, Kael could possibly earn favor back if he tried, “Let us report back to the Magistrix about our success.”

Trixie turned around to approach the relatively nearby Magistrix who was handling some even newer recruits, but Kael did not follow her. She stopped to look back at him in confusion, but he once again spoke first.

“You go ahead. I will wait here.”

Trixie was not about to let her partner be shy even if everyone else hated him, so she grabbed his arm with a firm but not hard grip, “Why? Are you nervous about speaking with her? Come on.”

The man continued to look away from her, “The truth is, I never actually got the mission like you did…” he flashed her a nervous look, “Since so many people were ignoring me or outright telling me to go away, I feared approaching the teacher who was setting people on missions of destruction lest I become the new subject of her ire. I’ve just been copying what others have been doing the past day or so. That’s why I know a little more, but have not progressed any farther.”

Trixie pulled his arm in so that it was intertwined with her own as she began to tug him towards her teacher, “Oh don’t be silly. How do you expect to earn their trust if you do not try and do something for them? Come with me, and I will say you helped me in my mission. They seem fine with me, so my introducing you should prove beneficial to your reputation.”

Her persistence and optimism got through to him slightly, and he allowed her to pull him even though he remained somewhat pessimistic about the whole matter, “I acquiesce to your plan.”

“Of course you do. I am brilliant after all.”

Once the other students had left Erona, Trixie approached her with Kael in tow. She let go of him once they were there, causing Kael to straighten himself out after being pulled there by the tall but still shorter than him Trixie.

Trixie beamed at her teacher whiled gesturing to the area she and Kael had cleared out, “Hello Magistrix. I believe that my partner Kael and I have succeeded in ridding Sunstrider Isle of your pesky wyrms.”

Trixie’s words seemed lost upon the Magistrix beyond a certain point, as the Magistrix turned to face Kael with a gaping jaw.

“Kael? As in the same name as our Prince, Prince Kael’Thas Sunstrider? You have been born into an unfortunate life, my friend, to be named after that man. At least you were not named after the Outlands conflict began, for that would be even more unfortunate.”

Kael opened his mouth as a light bulb lit in his mind, “Actually, I—”

Seeing that Kael was about to say something that could possibly incriminate himself, Trixie gripped him by the arm again and spoke up faster than he could for once.

“May I speak with you?”

Kael nodded, and Trixie apologized to Erona for the interruption. With his permission Trixie led him about ten meters away and began to speak to him in a whisper.

“Okay, new plan. Don’t go around saying your name. I’m sorry I did.”

Kael tilted his head, confused by the complete 180 on her approach to his reputation, “What? Why not? Being a prince sounds quite familiar, and perhaps she knows something about my history. What if I am this Prince Kael’Thas Sunstrider? That would mean this whole Isle is named after me—”

Trixie held a finger to her lips to signal that he should be quiet, “She said being named Kael was unfortunate. What do you want to wager that this Kael’Thas, possibly your own self, was disgraced at this so called Outlands conflict that seems to be going on right now?”

“I…” Kael’s shoulders dropped as he realized that if he was not just a lookalike who held the name of the prince, he might actually be this ill favored man which would be the root of his current problems. The others likely were shunning him because of his similar appearance, and him saying his name would only make their suspicions rise further, “I concede to your point. I do wish to look into this matter in the future, even if it is by research rather than inquisition.”

Trixie could understand the need to know more given her own situation, but she did not want her new friend to get in any trouble, “Of course, but hush for now.”

With their new rule established, Trixie and Kael returned to the Magistrix who gave them both a curious look. Trixie laughed nervously for a moment before breaking the silence, “My partner here was named after the prince, and grew up to resemble his namesake. Quite the fortunate turn of events.”

Erona pointed towards a couple of apprentices who were steering their way around Kael completely, shooting him venomous glares on their way to go do whatever tasks they had been granted, “Or not. It seems to be causing you social problems.”

This did nothing to help Kael’s self-confidence, though Trixie rubbed his arm supportively as Erona spoke again, “Anyways, you have successfully completed your first task; for that, you are to be congratulated. Such success gives me faith that you will turn out better than those young blood elves who fail to heed the lessons of their masters. Continued success will be rewarded - not only with knowledge, but also with tangible rewards as well.”

Erona took out a pouch and handed it to Trixie, who graciously accepted it and took a look inside. What seemed to be round copper coins formed the contents of the bag, which Trixie began to count as Erona continued speaking. Money made the effort all the more enriching to Trixie.

“Your work here, however, is not finished. There is much more to learn, my young friend...” Erona paused as Trixie continued counting, only half listening compared to the more enraptured Kael, “Your effort has made something clear that, honestly, I wish were not true. The unchecked power of the Burning Crystals has maligned a much larger swath of the isle's natural balance than I thought. We must now take on more unfortunate measures to reclaim control.”

Trixie finished counting and carefully removed half of the coins in the bag, which she then stuffed inside Kael’s bag before realizing she did not have a place to put the pouch she still had in her hand. Erona turned around to point towards where Trixie had woken up, at which point Trixie had a brilliant idea. With Erona’s attention elsewhere, Trixie opened up the top of her robe and placed the coin pouch in the only compartment she could think of: the strap-like thing that she had felt inside her robe that was covering her chest. Kael laughed as he noticed her do this, but Erona did not seem to notice or care as she continued speaking.

“The nearby lynxes have succumbed to the influence of the crystals, and they must be put down. Bring me their collars, Trixie, as I may yet be able to fashion a magical restraint to turn some back from being uncontrolled.”

Trixie realized that the cats she ran into before must be the lynxes spoken of, which made Trixie all the more willing to take action against them. They were mean kitties.

Still, the order to murder and maim the cats had not been given so Trixie questioned it, “You only need their collars?”

Erona turned back to face them with a smile, “Yes, their collars should be enough for me to finish a cure for the creatures and their malady. Your compassion for the wyrms made me think about alternate ways of handling these problems. Here I will see if rehabilitation is actually possible, after we create my cure.”

This was a mission Trixie could be wholly behind, and so she grabbed Kael by his tattered sleeve to drag him towards where she woke up, “Come Kael, we have mean cats to beat up.”

They gave the Magistrix their goodbyes, and left to go beat up those mean cats Trixie so loathed. Once behind the building, the two were met with the sight of a whole pack of the beings spread out across the hill that formed the back area of the building. Kael was curious what was over the hill, but Trixie was more focused on the cats who scared her off earlier.

“Since we just need the collars, we should have an easy time leaving them alive,” she noted as she began to wonder which one she would need to knock out first.

Kael, however, was more interested in the dead body that lay face-down as a pair of lynxes began tearing into its armored form, “Poor Warrior…”

Trixie recognized the armor as being that of the person who ran to attack the cats earlier. Likely the person in line ahead of them for this particular quest. Erona had not really stressed that it could be dangerous, but then again she seemed to have a detached view of how one was supposed to learn magic other than learn as you go or die.

Trixie felt bad, but at the same time the man who was dead brought it entirely on himself, “He attacked a mob of cats by himself like an idiot.”

Seeing the closest lynx, Trixie began to charge up an attack while lamenting she did not know more. Perhaps she would be able to learn more after she was done cleansing the vermin of the isle like a glorified janitor or exterminator.

The cat noticed the light forming in Trixie’s hand, and as if it had seen it before the beast began to charge at her. The speed at which the animal moved shocked Trixie, who had not finished the attack by the time it was ready to swipe at her.

Luckily, it did not hit her.

Trixie gasped as she realized Kael had intercepted the attack, his arms wrestling with the cat that had pounced up at her. The possible prince growled as he tossed the animal down, the cat rolling over to prepare another pounce just as a blast of magic struck the back of its head. It weakly stumbled over, still conscious, only for Trixie to quickly knock it out with a kick to the head.

The kick actually hurt Trixie as much as it did the cat, and she grunted in pain as she realized her toes were in immense pain. The cat stopped moving though, and that allowed her to see that it had a collar on. Likely an artifact of its time underneath Blood Elf rule, it had little use for it at this particular moment while Trixie had a great one, so she removed the collar with some joy.

Seeing these events drew the interest of other lynxes though, and just as Trixie began to say “One down” there was already three more running at them.

Once again Kael placed himself in the way, with one beast biting into his leg and another jumping up to bite his shoulder. The third collided directly with his gut with its hard head, causing him to gasp and stop the spell he had been channeling momentarily.

Trixie felt fear grip her at the sight of him in such a dire position, but knew that she couldn’t cast her magic fast enough to do much good…

The shimmering metal of the fallen warrior’s sword caught her eye. Trixie rushed over to grab the nearby weapon, and as soon as her delicate hands gripped the large blade she turned to swing it at the closest lynx attacking Kael. The blade sliced down its body and made it lose its grip on Kael, who that very moment finished channeling his power to let out a burst of magic that knocked the other two back.

The one still standing growled at them both, and it moved to bite Trixie. She tried swinging at it again, but her blade passed above its body because of her lack of practice with it. The animal fell down either dead or unconscious though when a shard of ice pierced its back. Trixie dropped the blade onto the ground and sighed, glad that there were no other lynxes currently interested in her blood.

Kael, to his credit, was fighting off the pain of his wounds quite well even as his robe continued to fall into disarray. He removed another healing potion from his bag and drank it, a shudder going through his body as the odd tasting medicine took effect. His wounds disappeared to Trixie’s delight, as it meant he was fine despite taking all of the damage in that fight.

Thankful but prideful, Trixie crossed her arms over her chest, “I can protect myself, you know.”

Kael chuckled at how she had trouble just saying thank you, “I know, but I daresay I am more durable than you, my lady.”

Trixie snorted at him, though as her eyes began to trace across him she could see some serious signs of muscle on the otherwise lean body of her partner. The rips in his robe were allowing her to actually see how ripped he was, not that she would say any such thing, “I couldn’t tell underneath your dress.”

He seemed less interested in the falsehood of her being unable to see his tough body, and more interested in the insult itself, “It’s not a dress, it’s a robe!”

Trixie stuck her tongue out, “You secretly want to be a woman, don’t you?”

Kael was the one crossing his arms this time, only semi-defensive because he knew she meant no harm, “I am very comfortable in being a man, thank you very much. It’s not like I have much else at the moment other than being a Blood Elf male who looks like a prince.”

“I bet our people thought they had a princess at first, since that fool looks so much like you, wretch,” another voice said, causing Trixie and Kael to turn towards it.

A man in a yellow robe who was holding an odd staff of sorts stood staring at them with a wicked smirk. Trixie didn’t know who they were or what they were doing, but she did not appreciate their comment whatsoever.

Trixie jabbed a finger in their direction, her voice angry and defensive, “Hey, you stay out of this.”

As if the lynxes in the area agreed, one jumped at the yellow robed man and began attacking him. No longer able to dialogue with them, the man turned to do battle with the savage beast while Trixie and Kael each wondered how much they wanted to help him.

After seeing him get chomped a few times, Trixie blasted the lynx and knocked it out. Wounded, the man limped away to go tend to his wounds while Trixie muttered, “Serves them right. The nerve of some people…”

Kael decided to be the one to address her hypocrisy, “You were making fun of me too.”

Trixie placed a hand on her chest and let out an odd noise, “Hmmph. Yes, but you are my partner. I have a right that no-one else does.”

Hypocritically heartwarming as it was, Kael laughed at her possessiveness over mocking him, “So can I poke fun at how you obviously have no idea about any of what is going on?”

“I am a magical apprentice who is learning so I can go on to defeat the dreadful Scourge and amaze everyone with my supernatural powers!” Trixie responded with a bit of uncertainty, even though she tried to sound like she knew what she was talking about.

“I can assure you they are quite natural to Elves such as us.”

“Oh shut up. Can you teach me that fire spell?”

Kael shrugged, not really knowing too much other than the fiery magic came naturally to him, “I am not sure I can. I barely can do it myself. Perhaps we should see about getting you to a mage instructor.”

Trixie nodded in understanding as she began to retrieve more collars from the now unresponsive lynxes, “Like the Magistrix?”

“No, she is just in charge of things overall. You should see an actual trainer,” Kael clarified, his face turning to one of exasperation as he realized he destroyed most of the collar on one of the lynxes with his magic. Finding collars wouldn’t be a 1 to 1 ratio of defeated lynxes it seemed.

Once they pulled together all of the collars in the area and began to pack them away, Trixie decided that she was about done with the foul tempered cats. She needed a rest from all the fighting anyways, since her head was pounding and hurting like never before from what she believed to be her exertion.

“I think that should be enough collars. We really ought to have asked how many they needed.”

Before placing the last collar away in Kael’s bag, Trixie got a wicked idea. Instead of reaching into his bag, she placed it around Kael’s neck. He was too surprised to stop her, and Trixie could not help but laugh at the sight of the man wearing a pet collar.

“Hah, the prince of the Blood Elves is into bondage!”

Kael rolled his eyes, but did not remove it because it seemed to be amusing Trixie so greatly. Still, he would not lose the verbal war, “You put it on me, my lady. Does that not mean you are the one interested in that particular perversion?”

“…shut up.”

“That wasn’t a no.”

Trixie only grumbled as they went to turn in their findings to their teacher, who seemed pleased to see them back. As she greeted them Trixie removed the collars from Kael’s bag and handed them over.

“Magistrix, here are your collars.”

Erona was pleased to see the collars in relatively good condition, but soon found herself confused when she noticed one was in a weird place.

“Why is he wearing one of them?”

Trixie shrugged, trying to stifle a giggle that arose in her, “I thought it looked good on him.”

Not even wanting to get into that subject any further, the Magistrix cleared her throat as she took the collars, including the one Kael removed from his own neck, “Know that it gives me no pleasure to ask you to destroy these beasts. While in times past we have lived in relative harmony with woodland creatures, these are different times. The first order of business for all sin'dorei is survival; make sure you remember that.”

Assuming that sin'dorei meant Elf, Trixie decided to just go with it, “Of course,” Trixie replied, pleased that perhaps Erona was not completely psychopathic in her ways of cleaning up the isle, “By the way, there is a dead Warrior in the back.”

“I was wondering why it was taking him so long. Did you take his things?”

Trixie was confused by the question, but also realized that perhaps they should have brought him, “No, I did not. Do you intend to give them to his family?”

Erona laughed, “His family? I don’t even know anything about him other than a lack of intelligence and a tragic case of death. I meant did you loot his corpse. It is common practice in Azeroth to take from the dead, since they are not using their equipment anymore.”

Her response unsettled Trixie, who could understand the reasoning but also felt disgusted by the idea of looting someone’s corpse…

Erona used the silence as a time to continue speaking to the two, with Kael too nervous to speak up at all, “Now, the tower and surrounding areas should now be relatively secure, though only for the time being. You have done well in providing us with a buffer of security, but we will need to reassert control over the entire isle if we are to survive here in the long run. This will involve tackling much greater threats than errant mana wyrms and lynxes.”

The Magistrix took from the ground a small bag and handed it over to Trixie who realized she could wear it on her hip by attaching it to the cloth belt she had on, “Take this, Trixie. You will no doubt make good use of it for the tasks to come.”

Trixie thanked the Magistrix when a yawn escaped her lips. Wow, she realized she really was tired. She stretched out after putting the bag in place and another yawn let its way out of her, “Can we take a break first? All this magic is making my body ache.”

Erona gestured to the building they had been around so long, yet had yet to enter, “Oh, of course. You may rest inside if you feel the need. Come back to me when you wish to continue your training.”

Trixie and Kael nodded, each of them moving to approach the building. Once again speaking only to Trixie, Kael decided to mention something he found out before meeting her.

“The mage trainer should be inside. I heard some of the others talking about her.”

“Let us see about learning some new tricks!”

“I can’t tell if that was a bad pun or if you were being sincere.”

“…shut up. Anyways, while we’re resting I want to hear some stories about what is going on.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note:
> 
> Thanks for reading! Next chapter will be more focused on world building for the less WoW knowledgeable. Anyways, I hope that I can hear your thoughts in the comments below!


	3. Rest Experience

Trixie had taken it upon herself to be the one asking around for the mage trainer inside the building while Kael trailed behind silently. Since he was getting odd looks from some still, the brunt of conversations were left to Trixie to handle.

Sadly, despite asking around for what felt like forever, Trixie could not track down someone who knew where the mage trainer was. In fact, everyone seemed unhelpful for those who might have known and the ones who were clueless spent no effort in helping them beyond that point. Not even a point in the right direction.

This changed when a yawning man who was laying down on a pillow in the corner of the circular and one room building made her think that perhaps a more sleepy person might not be decidedly unhelpful because of her company.

“Excuse me, do you know where the magic trainer is for new mages?”

The man on the ground rubbed his eyes drowsily, another yawn escaping his lips as he worked on staying awake and responding to the question posed, “I apologize, but the mage trainer is sick today. Would you mind coming back tomorrow when they are better?”

Trixie lit up in excitement. Even if it meant that the teacher was not there, it meant they would be in the future and she just wasn’t being ignored by whoever it was. Trixie gave a small bow in thanks for the information, “Of course,” she looked back to Kael and beckoned him to come closer, “Where would we be sleeping for the night, however?”

The man on the ground shrugged, “Some sleep here, but there is an inn across the plains and through an area overrun by the Wretched. The inn has more privacy and is nicer in my opinion. A wagon should be running there soon, if you would like to go.”

Kael shrugged too, not caring about the location they slept, while Trixie smiled to the helpful Elf, “I don’t see why not. My whole body is aching as it is. Thank you for the help, and we will see you tomorrow.”

Trixie did not wait for a response before turning on her heel and grabbing Kael by his tattered sleeve, desperate to leave behind the people being so rude to her one and only friend.

Kael, apathetic to the disgust being shown to him, just let her drag him away while giving a parting wave to the man who helped them out.

The man returned the wave while continuing to yawn, “Be safe you two!” he paused as they left the open building with its lack of a door, only to then yell after them as he thought of something else, “Or don’t! We’re kind of going extinct as it is…”

Trixie didn’t get it, but Kael started laughing as he was pulled towards the wagon.

 

* * *

 

Night fell quickly over the landscape, and in the time Trixie was inside it went from looking like mid-afternoon to the dead of night. She wanted to get a better look around while she was riding, see what the sleepy man had spoken about, but the lack of light prevented her from really telling anything. That, and she was finding it difficult to pay attention to the surroundings as her eyes were drawn to Kael’s hands. He was using a small bit of fire magic to grant some light, and Trixie smiled as she watched it flicker back and forth in his palm.

The ride was quite short, only taking a couple minutes, so Trixie found herself being led to the so called inn before she could even take in anything else about the area. The wagon driver had someone take his horses away and park the vehicle while he brought Kael and Trixie inside their home for the night.

On the way in, Trixie noticed two things however: the lack of a door again which made her question the heating of the structure, and also the blue drapes that swayed in the night air and formed the only “door”-like thing of the building. As Trixie passed them, she pulled on Kael’s sleeve to get his attention.

“Ooh, blue drapes. I like blue.”

Kael stopped and smiled, all the while questioning the structure’s odd opening which was shaped like a straightened and rotated S before opening into the main chamber of the building, “It is my favorite color.”

Trixie rose a long silver eyebrow at him, genuinely curious about what he said, “It is? I would have guessed red was.”

Kael sighed, a part of him telling him that this was not the first time someone had made that mistake, “The color one wears does not mean it is their favorite color.”

Now inside, the two took a look around the structure. The rectangle shaped building was dim and had an intricate architecture lining its walls, with a periwinkle purple table sitting atop a darker purple rug right by the entrance. Given the seats placed around it, Kael assumed it to be a dining table while Trixie did not give its use any thought, since her mind was on the color of it.

Trixie pointed first to the table, making sure not to be gesturing to its golden accents and to be pointing at its main color, “Well, mine is purple, in case you ever buy me anything. I look good in it,” she then lowered her finger to point at the floor’s rug, which she was by no means fond of, “Lavender purple. Not violet purple or whatever this is.”

Kael tried to come up with a description for it, but found himself grasping at straws while secretly wishing he could take a seat in one of the L shaped chairs despite their low seats and short legs. His legs were killing him from all the standing he was doing that day, though to be honest the ached ever since he awoke in the Isle without any memory as to how he got there, “Grape purple?”

Trixie let the issue drop as a woman with brown hair, a white shirt that revealed her full cleavage, and a red skirt approached them from the back of the building, revealing to the two a staircase in the back they had not noticed before.

The woman bowed to the two as she introduced herself, “Welcome to Falconwing Square Inn. I am Delaniel, the innkeeper here. May I prepare a meal for you, or ready a room?”

“A meal would be nice, but we are here for the night,” Trixie responded, realizing that her skinny stomach was actually rumbling. She had been aching so much across the rest of her body that it did not occur to her before that she was hungry, for she merely thought she was suffering of a hurt stomach after a day of physical activity.

The innkeeper nodded before quickly snapping her fingers as she remembered something, “Actually, I am sorry, but we only have one room and bed available tonight. Will that be okay for you and your…” she looked over the disheveled Kael’Thas with interest, “partner?”

Trixie scoffed as she pulled out her coin bag and removed a few coins, causing Kael to reach into his bag and do the same, “Of course, we only needed one room to begin with.”

_“E’ast?” (One bed) the_ woman replied with some shock. Not that she did not have regulars come by her inn with a bedfellow, but she was still surprised by the boldness demonstrated.

Trixie, for her part, was simply being cheap. She had never intended to spend twice as much money when one room could house both her and her companion. The idea that it was odd or carried connotations with it completely went over her head as she paid the woman up front with some copper pieces, Kael doing the same.

Actually able to understand what the innkeeper said, Kael gave her a sheepish smile while responding, _“A’ther.” (Thank you)_

Delaniel chuckled as she realized that this must be a new couple, given that he seemed embarrassed while his companion was more open about it, “I don’t see that many young couples these days. Well, take a seat and relax yourselves. I will ready a meal and your room. Are there any dishes in particular you would like?”

Trixie nodded readily as she moved to sit down at the table, Kael following suit, “Bread and hay would be nice. Thank you again.”

Delaniel continued to laugh, though it was more nervous this time around, “Hay is for horses.”

Trixie blinked. Why had she asked for hay? Huh…

To not embarrass herself further, Trixie laughed at herself and what she said, trying to play it off as something other than a mistake, “A joke, haha,” she cleared her throat before repeating herself, “Bread then, please. And whatever plants grow nearby please.”

Kael gave her a look of interest, as he could tell that she had not in fact been joking. He kept his curiosity to himself though as the innkeeper turned to him for his own order.

Kael cleared his throat and pointed to an assortment of food and drink lined on a bar on the far side of the inn’s first floor, “I too would like some bread, though that fruit pie you have seems delectable as well. May I have some of that and the Moonberry juice you have?”

Trixie looked over to it and whiffed it with her nose, “May I have some of that blueberry pie too?”

“It’s cherry,” Delaniel responded, beginning to get the feeling that this poor girl wasn’t all there. Good thing she had a guy to look after her, Delaniel thought.

After a moment, Trixie mumbled, “…I don’t like cherry,” her stomach continued to rumble as she thought about food. Certain preferences were coming back to her, like her interest in bread and butter, “Is there blueberry? Or apple. Apple sounds delicious, but blueberry is my favorite,” unable to really recall why that was, Trixie had a vague feeling it had to do with whoever her mom was for some reason, “I think I get it from my mother.”

Eager to please, Delaniel smiled to Trixie before going into the back, “I will see what I have.”

Once their host left them, Trixie found herself instantly drawn to the bottle and glasses already on the table. The shape of the bottle and the glasses, as well as a unique smell, gave Trixie a good idea about what was in front of them, “Ooh, is this alcohol?”

“Yes, it seems to be,” Kael responded, not wanting to actually drink it and instead waiting for the juice he ordered. Trixie, on the other hand, grabbed the wine bottle and opened it up with a look of glee on her face.

“I never got to drink fine wine before!” she paused to bring a finger to her chin, “Or, at least I don’t think it’s something I’ve done.”

“Be careful not to ingest too much. I prefer coherent company,” Kael deadpanned, all the while looking at Trixie’s legs. Not for any perverted reason, as her body was fully clothed by her purple robes, but because of how Trixie had sat down. Delaniel had not been able to see it because of the back of the tall chair getting in the way, but Trixie was sitting like an animal might…legs spread apart but bent so that she was sitting, and her hands rested in-between them when they were not in use.

Trixie held a finger up to him to shush him while she chugged down a full glass of the whine, stopping to wipe her lips before cheekily sticking her tongue out at her partner, “Sorry, what was that? I was busy enjoying myself.”

Despite her odd idiosyncrasies, Kael decided to let the whole matter go. No reason to really care why his friend was so odd, he only needed to accept her for who she was just like she was doing for him. Unlike so many of the other Elves they had met…

Kael waved a hand to dismiss the matter, “Never mind. I am just glad the day is over.”

Seeing that Kael was not going to be drinking any, Trixie brought the bottle to her mouth instead and began to drink it straight from the source. She did not remember ever tasting something so great, though to be honest she had little to nothing to compare it to. Still, it felt awesome, and so she was not going to stop anytime soon.

Kael watched with both parts amusement and confusion as Trixie chugged the bottle down until it was half-done, only to then turn to him and point at him using the wine bottle, “Okay, now that we have time, talk.”

“About what?” Kael responded with further confusion. It seemed like she wasn’t being general about it, but he did not know what the soon to be intoxicated woman wanted to discuss.

Trixie shrugged and gestured around to the entire surrounding area, “You know more than I do, so what’s going on here? I honestly need help, and I don’t know anyone I could trust more to explain the situation.”

“More than you means practically nothing given how little you know?” Kael said back as a question, not really sure what to say. He knew some things, but it wasn’t like his mind was a library he could draw from and tell her things from. On occasion since he woke up he would remember something, but in reality he was little better off than his companion.

“Are you accusing me of being stupid?” Trixie pouted as she finally put the bottle down so that she could accept the plate of bread being handed to her from Delaniel from behind.

Kael thanked their server as he shook his head, taking his own food and placing it down in front of himself on the table, “Stupid? No. Ignorant? Yes, I could be said to be accusing you of that.”

“Are you accusing me of that?” Trixie questioned further, only for Kael to shrug and laugh.

“I feel there is no way to win this conversation, so I will begin by saying that I remember just a little about our culture. Not enough really to be useful.”

“Blood Elf culture…” Trixie paused as she thought back to what the Magistrix said earlier, “Or was it Sin’dory?”

“Sin’dorei,” Kael corrected with a smile, currently amused by how she continued to sit in such an odd way. She really was a character, even if she was clueless at the moment. And about to be very drunk. She quickly began to tend to her food, which was a loaf of bread and a whole blueberry pie, and Kael found himself surprised by how fast she managed to cut the bread into slices in a systematic fashion only to then butter it with the butter provided along with her food. How quickly she did it made him think that perhaps she had eaten a lot of this cheap, common fare food before.

Trixie pointed the knife she was using to cut the bread at him briefly, “Yes, that. Tell me more about those.”

Delaniel gasped softly as she finished handing over the last pieces of their meal, “Oh my, is your companion suffering from some kind of memory loss, sir?”

To make Trixie feel less embarrassed, Kael spoke up about his own issues as well, “We both are, to be honest.”

“What a shame,” Delaniel sighed, only to then realize that Trixie had already finished half a loaf of bread. She ran into the back and grabbed another loaf of bread for her customer, “Here you go,” Trixie thanked her in-between bites, causing Kael to laugh at how thoroughly starved his friend must have been. Seeing that the two were enjoying themselves, and not particularly fond of the moaning coming from upstairs, Delaniel decided to stay with her present company, “Mind if I join you? Things are slow right now, and I don’t think there will be anyone else coming by tonight.”

Kael gestured to the vacant seat next to Trixie, “Go ahead.”

Delaniel took the seat, instantly noticing that the girl was sitting weirdly beside her before not caring just as quickly, “Thank you. I can share any information you two need. Where shall I begin?”

“How about…” Trixie laughed as she realized how utterly confused she was in general. Beside her, Kael was actually surprised that Trixie was not yet displaying actual signs of being any level of intoxicated, “Well, pretend I know nothing about Blood Elves and go from there. Just pretending of course.”

Delaniel nodded before clearing her voice and preparing to tell a story, “Of course. Now, long ago the exiled race known as the High Elves landed on the shores of Lordaeron. These are our ancestors, who had been changed by their usage of arcane magic and driven out by their Night Elf brethren for simply using magic like we do.”

“These Night Elves sound like jerks,” Trixie grunted. Prejudice over just basic magic? That was just mean. At least, it seemed that way with what little she knew.

“They tend to be even more stuck up than we are, and we are known for being the most stuck up member of our nation’s alliance,” Delaniel continued, “Now, we struck out to find a new home, and after many battles with the trolls, established the kingdom of Quel'Thalas. Using a vial of sacred water stolen from a Night Elven source known as the Well of Eternity, the High Elves created a fount of mystical power at a convergence of ley energies in Quel'Thalas. They named this fountain the Sunwell. Its potent arcane magic fed and strengthened the High Elves, and soon the wondrous city of Silvermoon was established.”

“What’s ley energy?” Trixie piped up again, trying to follow the best she could as she ate and listened. Kael actually gave his bread over to Trixie so that she could devour it, and he found himself amused at the sheer speed at which she managed to consume it all.

Less interested in Trixie’s oddities, Delaniel kept talking, “Think of it as magic energy that comes from the land itself that lines the ground and provides extreme power to those who harness it,” she cleared her throat to get back to telling the tale of their people, “Anyways, protected by a magical barrier, the High Elves enjoyed peace for roughly four thousand years, but that peace was not meant to last. The tribe of trolls known as the Amani gathered an immense army and assaulted the elven kingdom. Vastly outnumbered, the High Elves hastily struck an alliance with the human nation of Arathor. The elves taught a small number of humans how to wield magic. In exchange the humans aided the elves in destroying the trolls' power base forever.”

Once again, Trixie interrupted to ask a question about things she felt like she should know, “What’s a human? And what’s a troll?”

“A human is like a broader, less refined, Elf with nowhere near as much magical ability and a far greater tendency towards betrayal. Trolls are taller, but have poorer posture and are colored anything you might find in the rainbow. Except maybe purple. I have not seem a purple troll yet, but I have quite some time left to do so,” Delaniel answered, seemingly amused by the idea of seeing a purple Troll.

Trixie began to work on her pie, though she began to eat it directly off its tray instead of using a knife to cut it up. Kael laughed as Trixie pulled her face back and revealed that the lower half her face was blue. Beneath the pie on her face, Trixie blushed as she felt silly and like her manners were not quite suited for her present company. Was she supposed to eat differently?

In any case, Trixie did not want to be purple or blue even if she liked those colors. She felt bad for the Trolls, since seemingly being those colors was not normal here. They must face issues because of their different skin color, since something told Trixie that looking different meant being treated differently.

Trying not to laugh at her paying client, Delaniel did her best to continue her story without making fun of Trixie, “Over the following years we High Elves returned to our reclusive ways, but during the major conflict known as the Third War, the diabolical Prince Arthas Menethil, under influence of the nefarious Lich King and following the orders of the demonic Burning Legion, brought battle once again to our doorstep. “

By then Delaniel had calmed down, and her face was actually one of anger. Trixie felt chills go down her spine at the change, and a look over to Kael revealed that he had lost any amusement that had been in his face. He actually seemed angry, as if he had remembered something.

Keeping her own temper in check, Delaniel grunted before she went on, “Arthas required the power of the Sunwell to revive the necromancer Kel'Thuzad and raise him as a lich. He invaded Quel'Thalas and wiped out most of its population. In the end, even our King Anasterian Sunstrider lay dead.”

That made Trixie look back at Kael, who was clenching his fists underneath the table angrily. She brought a hand over to touch his hand to comfort him, the fist softening slightly at the touch.

If Kael’Thas was prince Kael’Thas Sunstrider, that would mean that…well…

“Additionally it became clear that the High Elves had become addicted to the Sunwell's arcane energies. Now that the source of their magic was gone, the few remaining High Elves quickly grew ill and apathetic.”

“Wait, I’m addicted to magic?” Trixie scoffed, not at all happy to learn this. Kael seemed surprised as well, though he kept quiet because of how angry he was about this news.

However, the addiction WOULD explain why her entire body ached at all times. Withdrawal and all.

Delaniel nodded, her response terse, “Yes.”

“Oh…” Trixie paused as she thought about what to do, quickly realizing she did not have a clue about how to confront this issue, “How do I fix that?”

Delaniel reached into a pocket and pulled out some shining gems, “I have some magic crystals that you can crush and replenish yourselves. Remember to keep yourself energized, as falling too far into addiction will cause a physical transformation into a being so wretched…” she laughed, “Well, that they are called Wretched.”

Trixie held her hands out for the crystals, desperate to stop the constant pain she was feeling, “Magic please.”

Delaniel snorted as she handed over the crystals to Trixie and Kael, who each crushed the soft gems in their hands. Once crushed, a glow emanated from the broken gems. This glow floated towards each of them, only to touch and enter their bodies without them doing anything else. Trixie instantly felt some of the pain leave her, while Kael barely felt different.

“There are also ways of siphoning it from other sources, but you will have to speak to a magic trainer about that,” Delaniel explained.

“Now, are you ready for the story again?” Trixie and Kael both nodded yes, so Delaniel continued her expositional onslaught that was sadly necessary for them to underdstand, “Prince Kael'thas, last of the royal line and who looks just like you handsome, returned from his studies in Dalaran to find Quel'Thalas in ruins. Thirsting for vengeance, he gathered the survivors, renamed our kind Blood Elves to honor our fallen, and took a group of the strongest fighters to join Lordaeron's campaign against the Scourge.”

Trixie nudged Kael with a smirk, comfortable in doing so in front of Delaniel since Delaniel seemed to think Kael was just a lookalike, “He sounds like a valiant and great man. Right?”

Delaniel shrugged, causing Trixie some concern since it wasn’t a straight up yes, “Perhaps. Due to human prejudice placing him and his people in a dangerous position, Kael'thas was forced to accept the assistance of a woman known as Lady Vashj and her reptilian Naga. When the humans and their leader Garithos discovered that the Blood Elves had been working with the Naga, Kael'thas and the others were imprisoned and condemned to death.”

That infuriated Trixie immensely. The idea of someone being needlessly cruel and judging someone else only based on their race was just wrong, and she felt like making her opinion known to this monstrous man.

Trixie slammed a fist down on the table while Kael began to look down at the floor blankly, “Where may I go yell at this terrible man Garithos and his similarly terrible followers?”

“A graveyard, though sadly he was not slain by one of our own…kind of,” Delaniel offered no explanation before continuing further, “Lady Vashj soon arrived to set them free, leading them through a portal and into the broken wastes of Outland. There, the elves met the one being capable of putting an end to their hunger: the renegade night elf-demon hybrid, Illidan Stormrage. Certain that the Blood Elves would die without Illidan's assistance, Kael'thas agreed to serve the man known by the Night Elves as ‘the Betrayer.’”

The sound of a not-mean Night Elf made Trixie smile. Perhaps they were not all as judgmental and cruel as previously thought, “This Illidan guy sounds like he’s not as mean as the other Night Elves. Even if he is a demon, which sounds like it’s a bad thing.”

Delaniel smiled as she stood up from the table to go grab something, “He is also quite handsome. With his glowing twin blades of Azzinoth, he makes for quite the fine specimen…” she removed a piece of paper from a drawer and sighed happily as she looked at it, “Because of his wings he can’t wear normal shirts, so very little is left to the imagination…”

Curious as to what she was looking at, Trixie soon had her question answered as Delaniel returned and handed Trixie a picture of this Illidan,“Here is a picture.”

The man had a piece of cloth covering his eyes, curled horns coming from his head, large and unhealthy looking wings sprouting from his back, and feet that were more like hooves. Those features together made Trixie a little uneasy, though she was curious about his hooves for some reason she could not explain. Outside of his more grisly looks though, he had a very muscular body and looked to be the size of many Kael’Thases.

Trixie looked over to her companion and looked inside the holes of his clothing again. He was quite fit, though he simply could not compare to the gigantic Night Elf-demon thing. Trixie continued to squeeze Kael’s hand in support, since she could sense that all of this was biting at him.

Looking back at the picture, Trixie noticed something: a glowing green blade being wielded by Illidan. It had a very appealing design, with curves along its bow shaped form, as well as the face of what Trixie believed was called a panda. Why she knew that and not some other useful piece of information she did not know, but she thought it funny that such a odd looking man had what was known as a fuzzy and cute animal on his weapon.

On a personal level though, Trixie wanted that blade. Or a replica. The glowing green sheen, the panda face, and the overall awesome curves and appearance of it made Trixie just want to possess it even if she knew not how to use a blade like it.

After swooning over the picture for a little while longer, Delaniel decided to bring her tale to a close, “Since then, a lone representative, Rommath, was sent back to Azeroth with a message of hope for the Blood Elves remaining in Quel'Thalas: that one day Kael'thas would return to lead his people to paradise. Rommath had made great progress in teaching the Blood Elves advanced techniques to manipulate arcane energies. With renewed purpose, we Blood Elves have rebuilt the city of Silvermoon, located close by, though it is powered by volatile magics. Emboldened by the promise of Kael'thas' return, the weary citizens of Quel'Thalas now are focusing on regaining our strength, even as we forge a new path into an uncertain future.”

She paused, once again giving Trixie a sense of concern, “But…”

“But?” Trixie questioned, not liking the sound of that.

“Well, there are rumors spreading around of a most disheartening matter,” the innkeeper lowered her voice to a whisper, “Rumors have long spread amongst our kind like fire through a forest, but the nature of these are quite…”

She looked around to make sure none of the inhabitants upstairs had come down before continuing, “You didn’t hear it from me, but there is word going around that our Prince is…allied with the Burning Legion.”

Trixie might be new to it all, but she had learned enough to know that that was a very bad thing. Looking over to Kael, she could see that his face had gone pale even as he continued to stare at the ground blankly.

Delaniel scowled at the mere thought of her leader turning on their people, “The Burning Legion were the ones who brought the Scourge into this world, I hear. The ones who guided Arthas. They are the cause for all that has happened to us. For our beloved prince, who has for so long fought to save our people, to turn and join them crushes one’s soul.”

Seeing the state of the Kael-lookalike and the now worried Trixie, Delaniel decided to call it quits there. She had said enough, and it was getting late. She stood up and took some of the finished plates from the table.

“Anyways, it is getting late. You will need your rest for your continued training, so I won’t bother you any more.”

Trixie nodded to her, a smile upon her face despite everything. At least she knew now these terrible things, “Thank you for everything.”

With Delaniel gone, Trixie stood up as well and tried to pull Kael up too.

“Come on. It’s okay.”

 

* * *

 

Once they found their room, which happened to not have a door either, Trixie sat Kael down on their singular bed and took the space beside him.

“Are you okay?”

The glow of his eyes helped hide it, but Trixie could see that the man was nearly crying, “I…”

Trixie continued to hold his hand to comfort him. The poor man had little to no memory, and yet he was now faced with a shattering discovery of possible crimes and misdeeds he had done, in addition to the general sadness of his race, “Do you really think you’re this Prince everyone is talking about?”

“It feels like I am…” Kael leaned back on the bed, losing his strength to stay up as he became more distraught at the possibility of being a terrible person, “My name…what little I can remember…her words seemed quite familiar.”

Trixie did not lay down too, but she did move back on the bed so that she could run a hand across his cheek to take away a tear. He was her only friend right now, and he was hurting bad, so she would try to help him however she could.

“Perhaps we should find you something to wear to conceal your face.”

Kael shot Trixie a look, only for her to quickly follow it up with a smile and explanation, “I do not care who you are or were so long as you continue to be the gentleman you have been this whole time, but others have their own prejudices. We will attract less attention if you cover your face.”

While overall forlorn because of what he learned that night, Kael felt a glimmer of happiness due to the support shown to him, “I suppose you are correct.”

Trixie stood up and placed her hands on her hips, tilting her head back for a haughty laugh, “Of course I am. I’m always right.”

“Even when you think you can challenge a sociopathic Hunter and win, and you lose?” Kael snarked from the bed, moving so that he could lay the correct way on it. It was not a terribly large bed, and while that might be fine for…certain activities where space was conserved, it did not make the fact that he would be sharing it with his clueless partner any easier.

Trixie, meanwhile, was approaching a mirror in the room she had just noticed. She was quite curious about what she looked like, so the fact the room came with one pleased her.

“Oh ha-ha. Very funny Kael.”

As Trixie began to look herself over, Kael let his sore body collapse fully on the bed, “Thank you…”

Trixie could not find it in herself to just say “You’re welcome”, since that would be an admission that she was being very kind and generous and deep down, actual praise made her uncomfortable. She was acting tough and proud based on her insecurity, so actually receiving real thanks made her feel extremely modest.

Instead of replying to him, Trixie finished taking in her looks. Not really caring that Kael could see, Trixie began to disrobe. She felt odd in the full clothing, and did not really get why everyone was being so modest. Yes, her experience with her chest before was embarrassing, but it was embarrassing because of her lack of knowledge and how she asked Kael about it, not because of the actual organs sitting atop her slim frame.

Underneath the robe she was still wearing an odd piece of cloth that bound around her chest, covering the spots Trixie did not intend to touch again, and another that looked like a very, very small pair of shorts. So small that it barely covered anything more than her crotch.

Ignoring these garments, Trixie was able to do what she intended to do: see what she looked like without the interference of her robes.

Her eyes were the thing that interested her the most. They were purple instead of green, which made Trixie curious as to why hers were different. She decided to look into it later, and decided to move down. Her face was quite normal, at least by what she had seen of Blood Elf faces, and she could not tell if she was pretty or not. She wanted to think she was though, so she decided to use herself as a benchmark for what would there on out count as “pretty”.

Moving further down were the things causing her back more pain, and Trixie was about done observing them for the day. Further down was a flat stomach that also held some firmness to it, though Trixie felt positively weak compared to the muscular man across the room. Ignoring this, Trixie’s eyes then fell to her hips, which she noticed were much wider than those she had witnessed on other females. In fact, they looked to be little larger, despite being wider overall. Trixie blushed at the thought of what this could do for her, and instantly blocked out all related thoughts.

Behind her, Kael too was observing her, taking in her body and trying to forget his sorrows as he realized that he was going to be sleeping next to this that night. He began to pray that she would put the robe back on, but Trixie decided to feel comfortable and left the robe where it was as she circled back to the bed. She blew out the blue colored candles on her way to the bed, and when she climbed on top Kael felt himself being pushed to one side.

Brushing up against him, Trixie felt the cloth of his torn clothes and decided that the feeling was bad as was the appearance of the thoroughly used clothing, “Perhaps we should also get you a new set of clothes tomorrow. Your current ones are in poor shape.”

Kael snorted at her small insult, expecting her to have at least said by then some kind of “you’re welcome”. Trixie could feel that it was expected of her, so she huffed as she asked, “What? Just because I’m haughty doesn’t mean I know how to tell someone they’re welcome that I’m so gracious.”

That was enough for him, and Kael found himself trying not to look at or touch Trixie as she made herself comfortable beneath the covers like he had already done without thinking.

“Now stay on your side of the bed. You are paying for half the room after all, so stay there,” Trixie commanded, only for Kael to snark.

“There really are not halves to this structure…”

“…fine. To conserve space you may wrap your arms around me and we will intertwine and overlap our legs.”

Kael was beginning to want to sleep on the floor. This woman had no sense of personal space at all, or at least not a conventional one.

“Goodnight, partner.”

Still…she was there for him, even after hearing that he possibly was an evil man who sold out their race. She seemed to want to be supportive of him and be close to him, so he would allow it.

_“Fale'shorel, O'thal'ronae...”_ _(Good night, my peaceful friend)_ He whispered back as he closed his eyes.

As she began to drift off into sleep Trixie smiled at his words, even if she could not understand them.

She would make him teach her the pretty words another day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, and I hope that I can hear your thoughts in the comments below!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed the beginning of Trixie's journey into the world of Azeroth, and I hope that I can hear your thoughts in the comments below!


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